Katherine Moriwaki is an artist and researcher investigating clothing
and accessories as the active conduit through which people create
network relationships in public space. After receiving her Masters
degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York
University's Tisch School of the Arts, Katherine co-developed and taught
the ground-breaking collaboration studio "Fashionable Technology" at
Parson's School of Design. Currently she is a Ph.D. Candidate in the
Networks and Telecommunications Research Group at Trinity College Dublin.

Jonah Brucker-Cohen is a researcher, artist, Ph.D. candidate, and HEA
MMRP fellow in the Disruptive Design Team of the Networking and
Telecommunications Research Group <http://ntrg.cs.tcd.ie/> (NTRG),
Trinity College Dublin. He was also a Research Fellow in the Human
Connectedness Group <http://www.medialabeurope.org/hc> at Media Lab
Europe. He received a Masters from the Interactive Telecommunications
Program <http://www.itp.nyu.edu/> at NYU and was an Interval Research
Fellow there creating interactive networked projects. His work and
thesis focuses on the theme of "Deconstructing Networks" which includes
projects that attempt to critically challenge and subvert accepted
perceptions of network interaction and experience.

Virtueel Platform has invited New York-based artists Jonah Brucker-Cohen
and Katherine Moriwaki to perform one of their famous Scrapyard
Challenge workshops in Amsterdam. Both will be finishing their PhD
research this year at the Networking and Telecommunications Research
Group (NTRG), Trinity College Dublin. On the eve of the workshop there
will be an opportunity to hear about the projects that have played a key
role in their research.

Deconstructing Networks

Jonah Brucker-Cohen will discuss his work on the theme of
‘Deconstructing Networks’ in both physical and online instantiations. He
will present projects that attempt to critically challenge and subvert
accepted perceptions of network interaction and experience, from
software manipulation and rule-based systems to translating virtual
processes and conventions into the physical world. These projects
include BumpList, an email community for the determined, Alerting
Infrastructure!, a website hit counter that destroys a building,
PoliceState a fleet of radio controlled police cars whose movements are
dictated by keywords sniffed on a local network, and SimpleTEXT a
performance that is controlled by participants through texting messages
from their mobile phones.

Katherine Moriwaki will discuss her work on "socially fashioned"
networks, utilizing a combination of wearable technologies, varying
degrees of network infrastructure, and social behaviour for deployment
and propagation. Unlike fixed networks, spontaneous ad-hoc networks rely
upon mobile and flexible infrastructure that can dynamically reconfigure
based on necessity and circumstance. As these communication devices are
integrated into intimate personal objects, such as accessories and
clothing, the statement that "the people are the network" becomes
increasingly resonant. This presentation focuses on the projects
"RECOIL", "Inside/Outside", "Oscillating Windows" and "Umbrella.net."
These serve as examples of "socially fashioned" networks.

Create a remote control cushion for your home cinema set, a cuddly toy
light switch, or a dress that plays music….

There are more and more tools widely available that allow us to make and
publish our own media. These days all kinds of people have their own
blog, and upload videos at the push of a button. The next step is that
consumers modify physical objects, products and electronic devices.
Scrapyard Challenge opens up this world and shows how easy it is to
re-use technology and make it serve a new purpose. Participants in the
workshop will not only experience what it’s like to tinker with
electronics, but be encouraged to think about the design of open
systems, platforms and tools that allow the user to put these to a new
use. Hacking and DIY culture are two of the key sources of inspiration.

The workshop

The Scrapyard Challenge Workshop is an intensive, one-day workshop in
which the participants will make simple controllers using reclaimed,
defunct materials such as old electronic equipment, furniture, old
computer components, electric appliances, turntables, monitors, gadgets
and clothing. Each of the objects designed during the workshop will be
linked to a MIDI output device that is able to generate audio or visual
material, depending on what the participant would like to build. As a
warm-up exercise the workshop will kick off with everyone building
simple ‘drawbots’. At the end of the day the participants will give a
short performance or demonstration, playing their new creations to the
rest of the group.

Open and collaborative workspace

The Scrapyard Challenge Workshops are built on the premise of
encouraging an open and collaborative space for creative ideas and
hands-on prototyping. Workshop attendees learn how to build simple
instruments from found and/or discarded objects. We encourage attendance
from visitors from multiple backgrounds and all skill levels.

Hands-on prototyping involves taking an idea or concept and turning it
into a working model, using it to test scenarios for its possible use.
This method is increasingly being employed in design processes to
integrate user feedback in the development process, but it can also be
used as a tool for supporting creative processes.

Participants

We are looking for an interdisciplinary mix of designers, product
designers, musicians, performers, developers and people involved in
various other ways in creative processes. The workshop brings together
participants from a variety of backgrounds and fields of knowledge.
Participants do not need to have a wide knowledge of or experience with
electronics or technology.

Katherine Moriwaki is an artist and researcher investigating clothing
and accessories as the active conduit through which people create
network relationships in public space. After receiving her Masters
degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York
University's Tisch School of the Arts, Katherine co-developed and taught
the ground-breaking collaboration studio "Fashionable Technology" at
Parson's School of Design. Currently she is a Ph.D. Candidate in the
Networks and Telecommunications Research Group at Trinity College Dublin.

Jonah Brucker-Cohen is a researcher, artist, Ph.D. candidate, and HEA
MMRP fellow in the Disruptive Design Team of the Networking and
Telecommunications Research Group <http://ntrg.cs.tcd.ie/> (NTRG),
Trinity College Dublin. He was also a Research Fellow in the Human
Connectedness Group <http://www.medialabeurope.org/hc> at Media Lab
Europe. He received a Masters from the Interactive Telecommunications
Program <http://www.itp.nyu.edu/> at NYU and was an Interval Research
Fellow there creating interactive networked projects. His work and
thesis focuses on the theme of "Deconstructing Networks" which includes
projects that attempt to critically challenge and subvert accepted
perceptions of network interaction and experience.